Koharu-Chan
by SkyeTheFangirl
Summary: Koharu Hinata knew she was nothing special. Despite what her friends said, or her best friend Hayato said, or even what her parents said, she knew the truth. She was nothing more than a simple girl. A simple girl who used to love taking photos and being a detective, who used to love nothing more than sending a punch flying. A girl who conformed because she hated being teased.
1. Koharu

**A friend suggested I write something for a character that doesn't get enough love. I threw a list of 'unimportant' characters in a wheel and spun it. And Koharu Hinata was chosen.**

* * *

Koharu Hinata knew she was nothing special.

Despite what her friends said, or her best friend Hayato said, or even what her parents said, she knew the truth.

She was nothing more than a simple girl. A simple girl who used to love taking photos and being a detective, who used to love nothing more than sending a punch flying. A simple girl who decided to learn to cook because everyone else was.

Every day was the same. She'd sweep her green hair in her pigtails, meet Hayato in front of his house, then walk to school beside her green-haired best friend. She'd stand in the courtyard and talk aimlessly with her friends, then walk to class and sit next to Ayano-Chan. Eat lunch, go back to class and sit beside Ayano, then walk home by herself. She used to walk home with Hayato, but once he was forced to drop out of music and go home early, she walked home alone.

Rinse and repeat.

Photography was a secret.

Back in her first year of school, she used to be in the Photography club with Hayato. She'd take pictures, make jokes, and sometimes play mystery games with the rest of the club.

But the photography club was never popular. Or special. Nobody besides her club-mates would talk to her. In fact, other people made fun of her for spending time with the weird photography kids.

After 4 months, she quit. She buried her record as a photographer. She put away her digital and film cameras, and her film rolls. She unbookmarked the recipes for the chemicals and turned her closet darkroom back into just a closet, the enlarger sitting lonely and unused in a corner.

She joined Martial Arts for the rest of the year, with Hayato right by her side.

Martial Arts was great. Learning self-defense was really fun, and spending time with Budo and the others was amazing. Plus, she became strong enough to hold her own, and brave enough to take someone on. Even after Hayato left the club in order to join the Light Music club, she was still blissfully happy.

She made new friends. Because Budo was really popular with the girls, the popular group chose her to befriend. Maybe she looked more approachable. Koharu wasn't sure if they just wanted a link to Budo or if they decided she just wasn't lame anymore.

Either way, she accepted Mei Mio's shy invitation to join them for lunch.

But when Saki suggested joining the cooking club as a group, Koharu had to quit.

She wondered if being popular came at a nasty price.

* * *

 **Hayato: r u busy?**

 **Me: no.**

 **Hayato: meet me at the park in 10 minutes. bring ur camera.**

 **Me: ok.**

* * *

At first, she wanted to decline.

But her urge for photography was too strong.

Koharu arrived at the park, digital camera in hand. She wanted to use her film one, truthfully, but ever since she stopped photography, she hadn't bought anymore film. Plus, it wasn't a good time for film photography. She made a mental note to maybe purchase some. For use outside of school, of course. "What did you want, Hayato?"

"So impolite." Hayato smiled at her. "Nothing big, Koharu. There's a concert here tonight. I thought you'd want to take pictures."

"...Good thing I brought the digital one."

"Did you have fun?"

"You had more fun than I did." Koharu raised an eyebrow at the huge grin on her friend's face. "When I get these printed, maybe you should just take all the pictures for yourself."

"I couldn't deprive you of those!" Hayato grinned.

Koharu giggled. "Digital copies exist." Her smile faded. "Do you ever miss music?"

"Well, that's kinda the reason why I took you to the concert. What kinda guy sees a light music concert by himself?"

"So what, just preventing yourself from being all embarrassed?" Koharu shook her head. "Bad Hayato. Why'd you ask me to bring a camera?"

"Opportunity. I thought you'd want to take photos, and I know you miss photography."

"No, I don't."

Hayato stopped in his tracks. "Yes, you do." He turned to face her. "You just don't miss being teased."

"Okay. You got me." Koharu rolled her eyes. "You know me too well."

"Yeah, uh…that's kinda why I quit music."

"What?" Koharu knit her eyebrows in confusion. "I thought you said that your parents made you stop because you had to focus on school work!"

"I-uh, kinda lied. We were in public, I couldn't tell the truth…"

"So, you lied to me!" Koharu stepped back, disgust in her eyes.

"I meant to tell you! I quit light music because guys don't usually do that kind of music! And the guys were teasing me and stuff…"

Koharu grew silent for a few seconds. She could relate to Hayato's words. In fact, his scenario was exactly the same as hers.

"I- I understand, Hayato. Sorry for getting mad." She stepped forward to give her friend a hug, which was quickly returned. She had always liked hugging Hayato. He reminded her of safety, of back when they were children and experimenting with disposable cameras, taking blurry photos together.

She had probably been hugging him for a little too long, but he wasn't complaining, so she didn't either.

* * *

For the first time in months, Koharu dragged her punching bag out of her closet.

Listening to Hayato the night before had stirred something in her.

She had missed Martial Arts as much as she had missed Photography. And Koharu more or less remembered the forms, and the cheesy quotes Budo used to yell during training.

She didn't have a gi anymore (She had thrown it out in order to throw her past behind her) but she did have some clothes for exercising. And she still had her headband, carefully hidden in the back of her dresser. And after getting dressed, Koharu stood in front of the punching bag, looking determined.

"Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one!" Koharu launched a punch at the bag, the fabric stinging her hands.

"Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality!" She jabbed it with her elbow.

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply! Willing is not enough, we must do!" She attempted a roundhouse of sorts, only half-succeeding.

With a grunt, she tried again. "Fear comes from uncertainty. We can eliminate the fear within us when we know ourselves better!"

"I fear not the man who has practiced ten-thousand kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten-thousand times." Punctuated with a high kick.

Koharu went to bed sore that night, but happy.

* * *

The next day, Koharu planned to bring her digital Saikou camera to school. The same kind the photography club used. She hung it around her next, and left her house with no regrets.

"What's this? You, bringing your camera to school?"

"Yep."

"Aren't you worried about getting teased?" Hayato lightly touched her shoulder in concern.

"…Kinda?" Koharu shrugged, fiddling with the switch that adjusted the zoom. "But if my friends can't accept it, then they're stupid."

"If you say so. I'll be right by your side!" He grinned at her, giving a lame attempt at a salute.

"Thanks, Hayato."

* * *

"Koharu-Chan, what's that?"

Saki pointed at her camera. Koharu flashed back to Saki pointing at her camera a year ago, and saying something that sounded like a mix of lame and dork and all sorts of horrible things. And yet, Saki didn't look hostile right now. Merely curious.

"My Saikou camera. I wanted to photograph the confession tree." Koharu lied. Truthfully, she just wanted to have the camera near her. But photographing the confession tree didn't sound like a bad idea…

"Ooh, sounds cool!" The twin-tailed girl grinned, then turned back to talking to her best friend, the one and only Kokona Haruka.

Koharu had to admit she was puzzled. Carrying a camera was a sign of being an outcast, and that hadn't changed recently, either. Koharu had seen the way some of the other students looked at her former Photography club members. But Koharu let the camera hang around her neck and turned around to meet eyes with Hayato, who smiled at her.

* * *

"Can I see your camera, Koharu-Senpai?" Yuna Hina smiled at her, leaning over from her seat at the pink table of the cooking club. Koharu considered it for a second, then handed it over to the yellow-haired girl.

"Be careful with it." She insisted.

"Of course!" Yuna cheerfully looked at the camera, examining the lens and the screen. "Y'know, I used to be in Photography."

Koharu stopped. "When?"

Yuna Hina was a new student, a first year.

"Oh, I was in it for a few days during the first week, while experimenting. I was in Light Music and Science, too. But Cooking has really stuck with me. I'm so glad Saki-Senpai suggested joining it." Yuna dramatically waved a hand to gesture at the pink walls of the club, and at Kokona chopping hot dogs in the kitchen area.

"Did you like photography?"

"Nah, not really. The members were nice and stuff, but they were real dorks."

Koharu bristled a little, but remembered that Yuna hadn't been around when she was in Photography. "They're really good people." She smiled.

Yuna returned the camera to her, having figured out how to turn it on. "Take a picture of Yui-Chan!"

At these words, Yui Rio, who sat on the other side of Yuna, scowled and hid her face.

Yui had always been so hostile compared to the other girls. Koharu had heard the rumors of Yui having a weird death fetish or something, but brushed them aside. Still, Yui was awfully mean compared to the rest of them, constantly playing pranks and doing things to sabotage the other girls. Mei had had her glasses stolen by Yui at least 3 time this week.

Koharu laughed, just as Kokona sat down at the table, presenting a tray of octopus shaped hot dogs. Koharu picked one up and placed it in her mouth, then fiddled around with her camera. She held it up to her eye and pointed it at Mei, Kokona and Saki. Mei shyly made peace signs and smiled, whereas Saki and Kokona went all out with their sweet grins.

And that's when the charcoal haired Ayano-Chan ran in and stabbed a knife in Kokona.

* * *

Out of reflex, Koharu's finger had twitched and snapped a picture of this exact moment.

Everything descended into chaos after that. Yuna, Mei, and Saki had screamed, loudly. Koharu saw Yui's face twist into something that looked inhumanely cruel.

And then Koharu's martial arts training kicked in.

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!" She dropped the camera on the table and practically launched herself at Ayano.

Ayano Aishi. The quiet, possibly shy girl who rarely spoke and sat next to her in class, who sometimes ran around with a mop and bucket, wearing her gym uniform.

She had murdered Kokona in cold blood.

Koharu's hands pressed against Ayano's, using her strength to push her arms back and try to restrain her. The knife in Ayano's hand made Koharu nervous, but Koharu kept on pushing, trying to ignore the blade going back and forth, reaching for her heart and away from it. Her grip on Ayano's wrists was hard.

But she felt herself growing tired. She regretted not staying in Martial Arts. She regretted not going back to training weeks earlier, instead of last night. She wished that she and Hayato had this conversation months ago, instead of just two days ago.

Speaking of last night, her already-sore muscles were screaming in pain. Koharu tried to keep her face steely, but Ayano could see the panic in her eyes. The dark-haired girl's mouth grew upwards into a faint smirk.

Hayato would tell her not to give up. If he were here, he'd encourage her.

Wait, scratch that. Hayato would outright launch himself at Ayano and let Koharu get away.

It occurred to Koharu that maybe Hayato loved her.

As this thought crossed her mind, Koharu felt her wrists give out. She felt herself being thrown down.

She felt the knife enter her brain.

* * *

 **I'll give Hayato a bonus chapter if you guys enjoyed this.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Hayato

**I really wanted to write Hayato's perspective on this whole thing. I can't believe it took me so long to write out!  
**

* * *

Koharu Hinata was special to him.

Despite what her friends said, or what he said, or even what her parents said, she refused to believe the truth.

She was everything more than a simple girl. An amazing girl who used to love taking photos and being a detective, who used to love nothing more than sending a punch flying. A beautiful girl who decided to learn to cook because everyone else was.

Hayato Haruki loved Koharu Hinata more than anything, no denying it.

Which is why he died when Koharu did.

* * *

Hayato had been playing his keyboard when he got the call.

He didn't pick it up, and let the answering machine take it, too busy in a solo to really leave.

"Attention Akademi High parents and guardians. Several corpses have been discovered on school grounds."

Hayato nearly knocked the keyboard off of the stand.

And with no hesitation, he had run out of the house.

* * *

A crowd of parents and siblings had formed at the entrance of the school, blocking the gates. Hayato struggled to push through the crowd, but gave up once he saw there was no way through.

"Hayato!"

Hayato turned to face Koharu's parents. Their faces flooded with relief once they saw him, but that was quickly reversed once they realized Koharu wasn't with him.

"Have you seen Koharu?" Her mother desperately asked.

"No..." Hayato frowned. "You haven't?" _  
_

"Not at all." Koharu's father watched the school gates in fear.

Before any more conversation could be made, the school gates opened and yelling ensued. Hayato's eyes widened as he saw medical teams carry out stretchers, covered with sheets. His face paled as he saw a pair of cyan twintails drooping out of one of them. Saki Miyu.

A girl in the cooking club with Koharu.

5 stretchers were brought out. Behind them, was the red-haired Yui Rio, looking traumatized.

"Yui!" Haruto Yuto, Hayato's red-haired friend ran towards Yui, embracing her in a hug and whispering fervently under his breath to her.

5 stretchers...

Yui being alive...

"I-I barely made it out alive..." Yui mumbled, loud enough for everyone to hear. "They were terrible!"

"Who did it?" One of the policemen asked.

"I don't know...I ran away as fast as I could!" Yui sobbed loudly.

(Little did anyone know, she was merely pretending.)

* * *

Hayato watched the medics put the stretchers into the vehicles. They struggled to load the last one, and in an act of unprofessionalism, dropped a stretcher, sending a body flying towards the ground.

A body with green pigtails that he loved to play with and beautiful green eyes that he had watched light up. A body with a beautiful face that he loved to look at, a body that possessed a wonderful voice. A body with slender hands he had watched take pictures and legs he had seen kick the air.

A body with a stab wound in the back of her head.

"KOHARU!"

* * *

Her funeral was terrible.

The martial arts club and the photography club had showed up, bowing their heads in love and honor for her.

Her parents had cried the hardest.

Hayato hadn't cried. He did all that by himself at home later.

Instead, with steely eyes, he had stood there, holding a crumpled letter in his hands.

A letter in a pink envelope with a heart-shaped sticker holding it closed. He was going to confess to her the Friday during the week she died.

But it was too late now.

* * *

"The police... found one of her cameras during the investigation. Do you want it?" Koharu's father sounded uneasy as he gingerly held out the expensive piece of Saikou equipment.

"...Sure." Hayato accepted the camera with a strained smile.

Once her parents had left the room, Hayato sat down and tapped the gallery button.

The very first picture to appear was an image of his classmate, Ayano Aishi, pulling a knife out of the neck of Kokona Haruka. It was a blurry picture, but Ayano's charcoal hair was definitely visible.

Hayato stared.

And it clicked.

Ayano Aishi had killed Koharu Hinata.

...

...

...

Ayano Aishi was going to pay.

Ayano Aishi was going to pay for killing the girl he loved.

Ayano Aishi was going to die.

* * *

Unknown number: **_Hey. I heard you wanted a favor. You know the payment.  
_**

Hayato attached the panty shots he had taken with no remorse. One from nearly every girl in school. Every girl that was alive, anyways.

Unknown number: **_Well, you seem determined. What do you want?_**

Hayato typed out a reply. **I want Ayano Aishi to die. _  
_**

Unknown number: **_The only way for anyone in this school to die is to kill them.  
_**

Hayato stared at his screen, blankly.

He wasn't going to kill Ayano. He had more humanity than that. If he really wanted to kill her, he could just hire a hitman or something. His morals may have been shot, but he didn't want to directly kill her.

...Right?

Hayato's fingers twitched as he tried to write a response, but he kept making typos. He set the phone down and clasped his hands together, trying to steady them.

Ayano Aishi deserved to die.

But Ayano Aishi deserve to die as brutally as he wanted her to? And by his hands?

No.

Of course not.

She was human.

...

Right?

Sickening images of Ayano's eyes being pulled out from her head filled his brain. Knives entering her body. The gurgling sounds she would make while she was choked. A saw chopping off her limbs as she screamed in pain. Her voice, begging her killer to stop.

She was a monster that had killed Koharu.

She wasn't human.

Monsters didn't deserve to live.

Hayato's twitching fingers abruptly stopped as he picked up the phone.

 **Give me the tools, and I'll kill her.**

Unknown number: **_If you say so._**

* * *

 **Feedback time: Should I turn Hayato's quest for revenge into a full fanfic?**

 **Also: You may have noted Yui's fake tears.** **I'm working on a Yui and Haruto centric fanfic. It will tie into the Hayato-revenge fic, if I decide to write it.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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